Seed-tape and card-spool-and-row-marker assembly

ABSTRACT

A seed-tape and card-spool-and-row-marker assembly. A flat, stiff sheet, such as cardboard or plastic, has an upper spool portion with two generally parallel side edges lying between upper and lower flange portions. The upper flange portions have converging upper edges obtusely inclined to the side edges, and the lower flange portions have converging lower edges obtusely inclined to the side edges and leading to a narrower stem portion. The stem portion has two downwardly converging side edges that lead downwardly from the lower edges to a bottom pointed portion. Where at least one lower edge meets the stem portion, there is an anchor slit. The seed tape is wound around the spool portion and its free end anchored in the anchor slit. The card can be used to aid in unwinding the seed tape when planting it, and then the stem portion can be pushed into the ground, leaving the spool portion to stand as a row marker, which can be labeled with the name of the crop.

Sits

Watwood et al.

[ Feb. 22, 1972 [72] Inventors: Robert P. Watwood, Salinas, Calif.; James A. Moore, Ringwood, N.J.

Union Carbide Corportion, New York, N.Y.

221 Filed: July 17,1970

[2| Appl.No.: 55,666

[73] Assignee:

220,896 10/1879 Wolferts ..47/56 roaster PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 560,457 10/19 32 Germany ..242/50 770,529 3/1957 Great Britain ..206/47R Primary Examiner-Leonard Summer Attorney-Owen, Wickersham & Erickson [57] ABSTRACT A seed-tape and card-spool-and-row-marker assembly. A flat, stiff sheet, such as cardboard or plastic, has an upper spool portion with two generally parallel side edges lying between upper and lower flange portions. The upper flange portions have converging upper edges obtusely inclined to the side edges, and the lower flange portions have converging lower edges obtusely inclined to the side edges and leading to a narrower stem portion. The stem portion has two downwardly converging side edges that lead downwardly from the lower edges to a bottom pointed portion. Where at least one lower edge meets the stem portion, there is an anchor slit. The seed tape is wound around the spool portion and its free end anchored in the anchor slit. The card can be used to aid in unwinding the seed tape when planting it, and then the stem portion can be pushed into the ground, leaving the spool portion to stand as a row marker, which can be labeled with the name of the crop.

13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBZZ I972 3, 643 795 INVENTOR. 1 ROBERT P. WATWOOD I JAMES A. MOORE awn ATTORNEYS SEED-TAPE AND CARD-SPOOL-AND-ROW-MARKER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a seed-tape and card-spool-androw-marker assembly.

Seed tape is a relatively new product on the market. In its best form it comprises a water-soluble plastic strip encapsulating evenly spaced seeds. Seed tapes have the advantage of eliminating the necessity of thinning crops, by insuring their initial planting at the correct distance apart and it makes it easier to plant many types of crops in a uniform and correct manner. Heretofore, the seed tape has been distributed almost exclusively to farmers with large areas of crops to be planted, and the tape has been planted by machine from cylindrical cores carrying several thousand feed of seed tape.

The present invention is concerned primarily with seed tapes for use by the home gardener who wishes to plant a few rows of one or more vegetable or flower. It is not convenient to market such seed tapes on cylindrical cores like those the farmers prefer, because the resultant package is too large for retailers to handle, display, or stock conveniently. For home gardeners, it is desirable to provide a relatively flat package, but at the same time it is advisable to have something that can so support the seed tape that the seed tape can be unwound easily for it is impractical to provide anyone with a roll or wad of seed tape all by itself. It is also desirable to provide some form of row marker to indicate where a row has been planted and what the crop is. Again, the completed package should be attractive, should help to sell itself, and must be convenient to the customer when he comes to plant the seeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In this invention the seed tape is wound on a card-spooland-row-marker made of a flat, stiff cardboard sheet. The sheet is cut to provide a lower stem portion and an upper spool portion with a pair of generally parallel side edges and a pair of flanges at each side. The seed tape is wound around the spool portion with the flanges keeping it within bounds. The stem portion is used not only as the support for the row marker but also to handle the assembly, and the point at the end of the stem portion can be used to bear on one finger to held upwind the seed tape from the spool portion. Also, in order to hold the free end of the seed tape and prevent the seedtape from unwinding and falling off from the spool portion, though remaining readily accessible when the seed tape is to be planted, a retaining slit is provided, preferably at the intersection between the stem portion and the spool portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a seed-tape card-spooland-row-marker assembly embodying the principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the cardboard card-spool-androw-marker.

FIG. 3 is a view in end elevation of the assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective on a reduced scale of a somewhat modified form of the device during unwinding the tape from the spool.

FIG. 5 is a view in elevation of the cardboard member used as a row marker in the ground after the seeds have come up.

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation of the complete package.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The assembly 10 shown in FIG. 1 comprises seed tape 11 carrying spaced-apart seeds 12 wound on a card-spool-androw-marker member 13, shown in FIG. 2. The seed tape 11 is flat, though it may be thickened or rounded at intervals where there are large seeds, since many seeds are thicker than the seed tape, although many other seeds are very small indeed. The seed tape 11 is preferably of the kind shown in US. Pat.

No. 3,328,9l6, made from water-soluble material such as polyethylene oxide with the seeds 12 encapsulated therein.

The cardboard member 13 is especially shaped for use as a seed tape holder and also as a row marker and has several important features. lt comprises an upper seed tape holding spool portion 14 and a lower stem portion 15. The spool portion has two generally parallel side edges 16 and l7, each located between a pair of flanges 21, 22, or 23, 24 that hold the seed tape 11 in position during the winding and unwinding operations and to help guide it on to and off from the cardboard member 13. The upper flanges 21 and 23 terminate at upper edges 25 and 26 which converge somewhat upwardly and which extend obtusely, i.e., at greater than a right angle, to the side edges 16 and 17. They may lead up and meet in a point 27, in the modified unit 20 shown in FIG. 4, or they may instead both meet a top portion 28 perpendicular to the side edges. This latter structure helps when the assembly 10 is put into an envelope 30 (FIG. 6) to prevent the envelope 30 from being pierced by the sharp point 27 and helps to minimize the space required at that end, and either structure is suitable in unwinding the tape 11.

The lower flanges 22 and 24 terminate in lower downwardly converging edges 31 and 32 which are obtusely inclined to the parallel side edges 16 and 17, Le, at more than a right angle, and they lead to and intersect the stem portion 15 at an angle greater than a right angle. At the vertices 33 and 34 of these angles the card 13 is preferably provided with slits 35, 36 which are used to anchor the free end 37 of the seed tape 11. Only one silt need be cut, but it is better to have both of them cut so that it makes no difference where the seed tape ends or in which direction it is wound.

The stem portion 15 is narrower than the spool portion M and is provided with a pair of downwardly converging side edges 41 and 42 that lead to two bottom edges 43 and 44 which converge toward each other more quickly than do the side edges and terminate in a point 45.

The stem portion 15 serves as a handle for carrying the as sembly l0 and also serves as a stand when the device is used as a row marker. Also, the point 45 at its end can be engaged (see FIG. 4) with the ball of one finger and the top of the spool portion can be engaged with the ball of another finger (whether this portion is pointed as in FIG. 4 or flat as in FIG. 1) and the seed tape 11 unwound right from the card into the ground when it is being planted. In doing this, a suitable shallow trench is made along the row where the planting is to be made, the free end 37 is put in, and either weighted temporarily with a rock or the soil firmed over it, and then the tape ll is wound along the row. If the row was shorter than the length of the tape II on the assembly 10, then the user cuts off the tape 11 at that point, as with a pair of scissors or a knife, and then starts the same procedure for the next row. The tape 11 can be unwound while the member 13 is rotated about the lingers in this way just as well as if it were cylindrical. Of course, before use, the free end 37 must first be removed from the slit 35 or 36; the other end of the seed tape 11 being held in place by the remaining seed tape 11. When one reaches that other end, it of course just falls off. The row can then be marked with the row marker 13, which can be used of course to locate one row or several rows, and the soil can be firmed over the planted seed tape 11. The name of the seed l2 and they day on which it was planted and any other information can be written on the spool portion 14 at the time of planting, or the manufacturer can print the seed name and any other needed information thereon, with the user preferably adding the date or any other additional information he wishes to have that would be peculiarly within his knowledge.

When the assembly 10 is sold, it is usually placed in an envelope 30 which may have a transparent window 40, showing some of the seed tape 11 covering the spool portion 14, usually not disclosing any of the card 13 itself but just the wound seed tape I]. This makes an attractive package at that time and helps the user to visualize what the product is. Being flat, the supporting member 13 and the nearly flat seed tape ll enable the envelope 30 to be relatively flat, and the thickness of the package 30 does not need to be as great as it would otherwise have to be. All the usual information can be on the package itself.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodi- -ments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

We claim: 1. A seed-tape card-spool-and-row-marker assembly including in combination:

a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion, said spool portion having a pair of generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion, said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges leading to said stern portion,

said stem portion having two downwardly converging side edges and a bottom pointed portion,

at least one seed-tape anchor slit leading inwardly from the intersection of a said lower edge with said stem portion, and

a length of seed tape wound around said spool portion with a free end anchored in said anchor slit.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said upper flange portion is partly defined by converging upper edges that are obtusely inclined to said side edges and said lower edges are converging and are obtusely inclined to said side edges.

3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said converging upper edges are joined by a flat edge perpendicular to said side edges and central between them.

4. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a point axially in line with the point of said stem portion.

5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the side edges of said stem portion are converging and said two bottom edges converge more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges and meet each other at said point.

6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein there are. two said anchor slits, one at each upper extremity of said stem.

7. A seed-tape card-spool-and-row-marker assembly, including in combination:

a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion,

said spool portion having a pair of generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion, said upper flange portion being partly defined by converging upper edges that are inclined to said side edges at greater than said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges inclined to said side edges at greater than 90 and leading to said stem portion,

said stem portion having two downwardly converging side edges that meet said lower edges at an obtuse angle and lead downwardly therefrom to a bottom pointed portion having two bottom edges converging more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges and meeting each other at a point,

two seed-tape anchor slits, each leading inwardly from the intersection of a said lower edge with a said side edge of said stem portion and substantially bisecting that angle, and

a length of seed tape wound around said spool portion with a free end anchored in one said anchor slit.

8. The assembly of claim 7 in combination with a square envelope having a front transparent window, said assembly being inside said envelope with said window disclosing the seed tape only.

9. A card-spool-and-row-marker for seed tape, comprising a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion, said spool portion having a pair 0 generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion,

said stem portion having side edges that lead downwardly from said spool portion to a bottom pointed portion, and anchor slit means leading inwardly of said sheet from the intersection of a said lower edge with a said edge of said stem portion.

10. The article of claim 9 wherein said upper flange portion is partly defined by converging upper edges that are inclined to said side edges at greater than 90, said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges inclined to said side edges at greater than 90 and leading to said stern portion.

11. The article of claim 10 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a central flat portion perpendicular to said side edges.

12. The article of claim 10 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a point axially in line with the point of said stem portion.

H3. The article of claim 9 wherein said side edges of said stem portion converge downwardly and said bottom portion has two bottom edges converging more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges, meeting each other at the point. 

1. A seed-tape card-spool-and-row-marker assembly including in combination: a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion, said spool portion having a pair of generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion, said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges leading to said stem portion, said stem portion having two downwardly converging side edges and a bottom pointed portion, at least one seed-tape anchor slit leading inwardly from the intersection of a said lower edge with said stem portion, and a length of seed tape wound around said spool portion with a free end anchored in said anchor slit.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said upper flange portion is partly defined by converging upper edges that are obtusely inclined to said side edges and said lower edges are converging and are obtusely inclined to said side edges.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said converging upper edges are joined by a flat edge perpendicular to said side edges and central between them.
 4. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a point axially in line with the point of said stem portion.
 5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the side edges of said stem portion are converging and said two bottom edges converge more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges and meet each other at said point.
 6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein there are two said anchor slits, one at each upper extremity of said stem.
 7. A seed-tape card-spool-and-row-marker assembly, includiNg in combination: a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion, said spool portion having a pair of generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion, said upper flange portion being partly defined by converging upper edges that are inclined to said side edges at greater than 90*, said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges inclined to said side edges at greater than 90* and leading to said stem portion, said stem portion having two downwardly converging side edges that meet said lower edges at an obtuse angle and lead downwardly therefrom to a bottom pointed portion having two bottom edges converging more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges and meeting each other at a point, two seed-tape anchor slits, each leading inwardly from the intersection of a said lower edge with a said side edge of said stem portion and substantially bisecting that angle, and a length of seed tape wound around said spool portion with a free end anchored in one said anchor slit.
 8. The assembly of claim 7 in combination with a square envelope having a front transparent window, said assembly being inside said envelope with said window disclosing the seed tape only.
 9. A card-spool-and-row-marker for seed tape, comprising a flat stiff sheet having an upper spool portion and a lower stem portion narrower than said spool portion, said spool portion having a pair of generally parallel side edges, each lying between an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion, said stem portion having side edges that lead downwardly from said spool portion to a bottom pointed portion, and anchor slit means leading inwardly of said sheet from the intersection of a said lower edge with a said edge of said stem portion.
 10. The article of claim 9 wherein said upper flange portion is partly defined by converging upper edges that are inclined to said side edges at greater than 90*, said lower flange portions terminating at converging lower edges inclined to said side edges at greater than 90* and leading to said stem portion.
 11. The article of claim 10 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a central flat portion perpendicular to said side edges.
 12. The article of claim 10 wherein said converging upper edges meet at a point axially in line with the point of said stem portion.
 13. The article of claim 9 wherein said side edges of said stem portion converge downwardly and said bottom portion has two bottom edges converging more quickly than do said downwardly converging side edges, meeting each other at the point. 